Asset Building Event: Responsible Homeownership (Featuring FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair)

As 2008 draws to a close, over 2 million families have already lost their homes or are facing foreclosure. Many homeowners in need of relief are wondering if help will be on the way anytime soon.

“We are doing everything we can to be responsible,” said Aoah Middleton, who started missing mortgage payments when her five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, to the New York Times. “Banks are getting helped. Rich people are getting helped. Why isn’t there anyone to help me?”

As policymakers struggle for solutions to revive the economy, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has stood out in the search for creative policy decisions to keep people in their homes. She’s been called “the consistent voice of reason” by CNN, adding that she has “loudly and courageously… thrust the corrosive issue of foreclosure to center stage.”

Join us this Wednesday, December 17^th, for what promises to be a stimulating discussion with Chairman Bair. The event will also feature groundbreaking research from the Center for Community Capital at The University of North Carolina that provides a roadmap for making responsible homeownership work, especially among lower-income families.

Discussants will include Eric Stein (President, Center for Community Self-Help), Mark Willis (Visiting Scholar, Ford Foundation), Reid Cramer (Research Director, Asset Building Program), and Ellen Seidman (Director of Financial Services Policy, Asset Building Program).